Switch hitting

[iMlearning]

Last night my DD said she'd like to start practicing hitting from the other side. We've screwed around occasionally but never worked at it. She hits about the middle of the outfield when doing it off a tee. I asked her why, and she said just because it would be fun, and "I don't have any bad habits learned yet on that side." I thought that was kind of funny...anyway, we'll do it to keep it exciting but I was curious if this is a good thing anyway to be more versatile. I doubt her current coach would want her to try it anytime in the foreseeable future.
Any thoughts?

 

[NewBucketDad]

The only reason I would see to Switch hit in softball is if your girl has good speed and you want to put her on the left side. I would rather have my girl hitting as she can from right with all the work that goes into hitting. Thats what I would think but I dont know that much about fastpitch. Im looking forward to the experts responses

 

[rdbass]

JMHO It is hard enough learning to hit with the proper sequence as it is. Then to switch to another side. I want my DD to hit as well as she can from her"side" RHT. Most of the girls around us that are switch hitters seem to do one thing well from both sides.....strike out.JMHO. What ever you decide I wish you much success.

 

[iMlearning]

The only reason I would see to Switch hit in softball is if your girl has good speed and you want to put her on the left side. I would rather have my girl hitting as she can from right with all the work that goes into hitting. Thats what I would think but I dont know that much about fastpitch. Im looking forward to the experts responses

That's kind of what I thought, but I saw a video somewhere on the net that said you should learn both (it was talking about baseball though). DD doesn't have speed (3.4 home to first), but I recall seeing some big college girls hitting from both sides. I certainly won't spend much time on it if it's worthless
You're right though, it's hard enough just getting it correct on one side. I can't wait till volleyball is over so we can work more on technique.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

My LHP bats right, I tried and tried and others tried and tried when she was young to get her to switch. It was bad and ugly.

When we would come across those less talented teams ( we all do ) she would want to slap from the left. She hit and got on base 90% of the time, even though when she runs she looks like its running in quicksand. But I'm no fool, against good pitching and defense, she'd be out before she stepped out of the batters box.

I've had a few switch hitters, one side is always for power and the other for a bunt or slap. That's really the only advantage, where it depends what your trying to accomplish due to certain game situations.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Most of the girls around us that are switch hitters seem to do one thing well from both sides.....strike out.JMHO.

If for whatever reason you can pick up hitting from the other side quickly, then you'd rather be on the left side. But I'd think that's a rare situation unless you're just starting. Or if you're really fast and want to tailor your game around that, then that's another reason. But I don't see that switch-hitting has any advantage like it does in baseball. Learning to hit correctly is very hard for most kids. For most of them, trying to switch-hit is counterproductive.

 

[rdbass]

A girl on one of my DD's team "was'' a switch hitter. Her dad would always remind me during hitting stations to have her switch to the opposite side. The girl would always say to me "you know I can hit from both sides" and under my breath I would say yeah "you can strike out from both sides too". I can only speak for my DD it is hard enough hitting from the side she is supposed to. DD is Right handed when it comes to everything, except basketball. She dribbles left and shots left. I don't understand her.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

My favorite is when I get a switch hitter in a group and they demand the same amount of training from their opposite side. That of course steals time away from the other ladies. They have a choice ... in a group session they can either get half the number of swings in from each side, or focus on one side and teach themselves the points-of-emphasis on their other side outside of the group session.

Make no mistake about it ... learning to hit proficiently from both sides is double the work ... and for some people, a lot more than double the work. It's not a small thing.

 

[Jim]

New switch hitters really benefit from this.

 

[iMlearning]

New switch hitters really benefit from this.

Cool, I have that. I don't think we'll spend much time on it. I'll just let her have a little fun with it to warm up the muscles.